Corban Wroe Leads Hartford With Heart, Soul And Scoring

ALBANY — In his first 84 games at Hartford, Corban Wroe hit a total of 11 three-pointers. In his final 11 games of this season, the junior guard hit 22.

And on a Sunday night in early March when the entire season hung on a make or miss, Wroe made a career-high seven-of-nine outside the arc.

Yet if you think those numbers define Wroe, well, you didn't understand those tears falling down the Aussie's face after the Hawks' season-ending 69-64 loss to Stony Brook in the America East semifinals at SEFCU Arena. You just didn't understand what this guy has come to mean to a program that has grown in recent years, yet is crying to get over that hump to first NCAA Tournament.

"Words can't really explain what Corban brings to the team," fellow junior Mark Nwakamma said. "If we don't have Corban, we're not Hartford. Corban is our glue guy. He's a born leader. He's mature for his age. He's a steal. He can really play for any team out there. But he's with us."

How much does this guy care?

Asked a question, it took Wroe 20 seconds to overcome his emotions and start an answer. His threes had given Hartford a first half lead and his threes nearly shot Hartford into an America East championship game back home against Albany.

"Having guys who believe in you, the coaching staff, my teammates, they never let me have a day off," said Wroe, who tied his career-high 21 points from only two games earlier. "Shooting, defense, my teammates get on me just as I get on them and that has allowed me to grow as a player. You see it offensively through stats, but I feel I've grown as a person because of them."

Nwakamma, the Hawks' All-Conference first team player, picked up his third foul away from the basket 30 seconds into the second half and that was a decisive moment. The Hawks got timid for a stretch. And Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell, fed up with the jump shots in the first half, convinced his team to take the ball to the rim.

Hartford coach John Gallagher is a hoot, an absolute hoot to watch on the sidelines. He runs around throwing his arms up in the air, clapping furiously, urging Hawks fans to cheer louder, hugging his players at various timeouts. And when Wroe stepped into a three to cut what had been a 16-point Stony Brook lead 10 minutes into the second half to five with 4:33 left, forcing Pikiell into a timeout, Gallagher came charging into the middle of the court with both arms raised like he had just won the middleweight championship of the world.

At that moment, and when Nwakamma drove to the hoop 50 seconds later to slice it to three, anything seemed possible.

"A lot of teams would have rolled over and died," Wroe said. "I'm really proud of the team that we didn't. I'm looking forward to next year."

Yet the NCAA dreams ended when Jameel Warney stopped Nwakamma twice with 1:37 left and Dave Coley scored on a drive. Not even Wroe's last three with 44 seconds left to overcome those plays.

"I don't even think it's confidence [with Wroe's stroke]," Gallagher said. "It's just shooting it. We scream at him to shoot it. 'You have to shoot it or I have to take you out.' You have to demand him to shoot it. Look, if I had a healthy Nate Sikma, it would be different. Nate would have played 25-30 minutes tonight [instead of 15]."

Sikma has been playing with an injured lower leg and Gallagher said he'll undergo surgery next week and is out four months. Gallagher didn't have the defensive luxury to use Sikma at the 4 and Wroe at the 3.

"It would have changed the way we played the game, the way we played anybody," Gallagher said. "Before he got hurt Nate was rebounding the ball at a high level. Corban has done more than anything anybody could ask of him.

"He's playing out of position. He's playing the 4 [at 6-2, 195]. He's defending guys bigger and stronger and can jump higher, yet he's outworking them. He's shooting at a high level. He's defending at a higher level."

Gallagher said Stony Brook assistant coach Jay Young had just told him that Wroe "is your Tommy Brenton [Stony Brook's 2013 America East player of the year]."

"He's the heart and soul, he's the glue guy," Gallagher said. "He has become one of the better players in the league."

He already made the conference all-defensive team. With a 3.75 GPA in health sciences (physical therapy), he made the conference all-academic team, too. Yet in the closing games of this season, we've seen even more. He'll head into his senior year as a game-changer.

"In the summertime, when the NCAA allows you to do your workouts, he dominated," Gallagher said. "What you saw tonight is what you saw in the summer. I think what it is, is a transformation. It's 'I've never done it in a live game in the NCAA.' Corban played on a team in Australia that beat the Americans in Germany and he started, like one of the best 10 players in Australia."

Gallagher essentially has a team of Texans and Australians, a team of kangaroos and armadillos.